Kasz216 on 04 February 2009
| akuma587 said: For reference, this is actually a lot more common in public works type projects than you would expect. There are usually some incentives (although often not outright requirements) to "buy American." Advantages: Creates more American jobs Allows for a higher multiplier effect of the dollars spent within the states Disadvantages: Could result in major retaliation from other countries Could end up making projects cost more than they normally would This isn't exactly a unique phenomenon, this one just happened to get a lot of attention. Personally, I think they should probably get rid of it to avoid any kind of retaliation. At the very least they should restrict it to something pretty negligible. I knew someone would bring up the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. For reference, U.S. imports and exports at that period in time were dismal compared to what they are now. The Smoot-Hawley tariff was a minor contributing factor to the Depression. Anyone who tells you that it "caused" the Depression has had way too much of the globalization Kool-Aid. Sure it didn't help, but its a clear manipulation of the facts to claim that it "caused" the Great Depression. Its just not true. |
You're missing the general arguement those economic historians make.
It's not that we lost about 3.5% of our GNP.
It's that the tariff act caused the stock market to crash.
